Best PlacesShandon, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shandon, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Shandon ranks 34,230th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Shandon
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Shandon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shandon ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 158 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of towns
- Household income$102,894 median, better than 86% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 81% of towns
Where Shandon ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,387 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 7% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shandon
A household needs to earn about $128,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shandon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $102,894, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Shandon's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Shandon
Shandon runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shandon.
Who works in Shandon, and how
Work in Shandon centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Shandon
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Shandon.
What the weather is like in Shandon, month by month
Shandon sees roughly 158 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 48° | 36° |
| April | 77° | 57° | 41° |
| July | 97° | 73° | 54° |
| October | 85° | 62° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Shandon
The nearest airport, San Luis Obispo County Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 147 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shandon
Schools across Shandon average a D+, better than 21% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lost Hills ElementaryD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- A. M. Thomas MiddleD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Paso Robles HighB · 46% proficient
- Wasco HighC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shandon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shandon measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Shandon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shandon
Is Shandon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shandon ranks 34,230th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, walkability, and population health, and lowest on an overheated housing market and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shandon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $505,712. The overall cost of living runs about 56% above the national average. Set against a $102,894 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Shandon safe?
Yes, Shandon is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
Compare Shandon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shandon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shandon represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Shandon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shandon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shandon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shandon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shandon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shandon detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.